


black king; white knight

by kwjz



Series: 当前 ☆ skz!aus [2]
Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Alternate Universe - Thieves, I am happy to provide, Inspired by the tv show Leverage, Kim Seungmin-centric, Light Angst, Multi, Polyamory, also! not enough seungmin centric fics, even tho he's younger bc he's smarter n has a reputation, literally just based on the very first episode of the whole show, the rest of the 00 line looks up to seungmin, they're also insanely protective of him even if its just hinted @ basfs, this would probably be seen as ooc but its cool so suck it, we need more 00/01 poly fics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-10
Updated: 2019-07-10
Packaged: 2020-06-26 02:18:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,817
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19758577
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kwjz/pseuds/kwjz
Summary: Felix’s voice sounds in their earpieces. “Problem?”“Uh, maybe?” Seungmin swallows his nervousness. He hasn’t ever lead a team before. Like them, he’s always worked on his own, enjoyed that, even. Now, in the field but not, standing off on the sidelines but still calling the shots, its nerve wracking. He knows he can get them out in one piece if he can just toss his anxiety out the window, like Han did with the glass. “Run the cameras.”or Seungmin, well known Finder (and Closer) in Miroh, finds himself leading a team of thieves as they steal, and then steal again (and maybe they all end up stealing more than just airplane designs, too).





	black king; white knight

**Author's Note:**

> I know it's an utter mess in terms of viktor's name changing and the "the (x type of thief)" becoming "theirs" but like....its good otherwise basfhsfs enjoy~

Seungmin sits at a bar, downing a glass for who knows how many it's been; perhaps the bartender has been keeping track, or perhaps he hasn’t, continuing to dole out the alcohol to his only customer. This bar is a sad place to be at 2pm, but neither of the men pay any mind, one wiping down glasses while the other washes the contents of them down into his stomach, both picking up glass after glass after glass. 

There’s movement to the right: a bumbling, mumbling human who’s holding documents and a briefcase and struggling to pull off a coat all at once. If they came through the main door at the entrance Seungmin certainly didn’t notice. He’s been watching the tv without consuming the media, a feat he’s only capable of when he’s intoxicated, and he’s certainly been doing a lot of that within the last hour. It’s not until the person, this man Seungmin guesses -for once not caring about one’s pronouns- whose got these silly, silly glasses that perch precariously close to the tip of his nose, sits down next to him that he pulls himself reluctantly back into reality. 

“You’re Seungmin Kim, aren’t you? No, no, of course you are. I know who you are. You were the best Finder in the stolen property market, traveling Miroh-wide to bring back pieces and items and money to those who owned them.” Seungmin says nothing, trying to decide if this man wants a response only to realize he doesn’t care either way. He didn’t come here, to this bar, to talk: he came here to drink.

Regardless the man continues, setting down his briefcase before rustling his pages around in both of his now free hands. “You saved a bunch of people’s asses and for what? To be sitting at a bar at lunch rush hour without a family?” Seungmin stops mid sip, as the bartender pauses mid clean, both of them perfectly in sync. The other men watch, frozen in time as Seungmin turns in his seat, leveling a hard stare at- well. Whoever the fuck this is. 

“You know, this is the part of the conversation where I bash your head into this bar and leave you bleeding out. We’re coming up on that pretty quick.” The bartender makes a face. 

“I just cleaned in here.” Seungmin raises both of his hands, one still holding the current glass he’s working on. 

“Alright, alright! Then I’ll drag you out to that alleyway on the side and give you a lesson and be on my way.” This man, who's still unnamed- the one whose talking to Seungmin like he knows him, like he knows what happened to his family, like he has a right to even discuss them at all- sighs.

“I just want to offer you a job.” Seungmin slams his glass down, now empty after tossing the rest of the liquid down his throat in a flourish, and finally, finally for real this time, faces the other man. He’s got this odd, twitchy way about him, and he’s on the rounder side, so he appears harmless. But Seungmin can see the shadiness in his eyes, can hear it in his words.

He doesn’t trust this man one bit, but he decides to listen anyways. It’s not like he has anything else better to do.

“A job? Whaddya got?” The man leans forward, relieved, but also terribly excited to share something. Seungmin has always hated those kinds of men, who share some, but not all of their emotions on their sleeves. It’s always backwards with them; the ones they share and the ones they don’t.

“Do you know anything about airplane design?” Seungmin coughs, not knowing where this conversation is going; but did he know to begin with? Definitely not. It’s like whiplash every other sentence. 

“Give me a pencil and one of those fancy rulers and I can give it a go.” The man ignores his sarcasm completely, continuing on as though it had been rhetorical. It probably had been. Seungmin hates this man just a little bit more.

“Someone stole my airplane design.” Seungmin sits back in his seat, finally invested somewhat in the current conversation. Airplanes were rare; designers, and their designs, even more so. The government, only within the last ten years or so, had made airplanes, and other travel to and from Miroh City, legal; before it’d been a crime punishable by death. Designers of said travel crafts were few and none, most still hiding in the shadows. For someone to be open about this information, in a bar, with a stranger, was unusual. 

“Ah! I see. You’d like me to find them, right?” Maybe not as interesting. Seungmin was too tired, too drunk, and too hungover still from the previous day of drinking to be invested in this. 

“No, no,” the man said, leaning forwards even more. Seungmin turned away, picking up the new glass the bartender had set down for him and took a sip. “I know where they are. I want you to steal them back.” This last part he said in a hushed manner, and no kidding. Stealing? 

Seungmin sat there for a moment, blinking. Then-

“Steal them? Me? I thought you said you knew who I was.” He grimaced after downing the rest of the glass. God, even the alcohol was beginning to taste bitter. Maybe it was time to go back to his crappy apartment and watch White Collar reruns. 

“Listen, listen, listen. At the end of this month there's shareholders' meeting. If I don’t have my designs back, I’m screwed.” He sees Seungmin’s confusion and unimpressed attitude and holds out his hands in a placating manner. “Look, I’ve spent five years, and many hundred hours on this, only to go to that meeting with nothing to show for it? I’d rather be in a government prison than in that room.” 

With a shake of his head, Seungmin tries his best to fling out some of the cobwebs that settle there. He decides to leave the “I’d rather be in a government prison” part of that speech alone, because no one who's ever been in one, either as a prisoner or a visitor, would ever say that. It shows how privileged this man is, but based on all the files he’s begun to lay out on the table, and how hard he’s coming at Seungmin despite his seemingly disinterested manner, it also says how desperate he is. 

A desperate man is a dangerous one. Seungmin would know. 

“I mean, look at the people I’ve already hired.” Seungmin gets a folder shoved into his hands. Shakily, he opens it up as the man continues. “Do you recognize any of these names?” 

“Yea, yea. I’ve been after these people one time or another- you have Han.” Seungmin raises his eyebrows at this man, his own face twisting up into what he feels to be a grimace. “You hired Han?”

“Well, yes. Is there anyone better?” 

“No. But Han is insane.” 

“Which is why I need you.” To anyone else this would have been flattering, but Seungmin has already been distrustful from the beginning, has been watching this man weave his sob story for the whole bar to hear, Seungmin aside. He doesn’t like this guy, doesn’t trust him, doesn’t know what he truly wants. He says he wants his airplane designs back, but there’s got to be something else, or he wouldn’t be this twitchy.

Also, never in his lifetime would Seungmin ever team up with Han. Like he told this guy, the man’s insane.

Seungmin shakes his head and lets out a fake laugh. “No. I’m not a thief.” 

“Which is why I need you! One honest man to lead the team of thieves.” 

They sit in silence for what seems like several minutes; it very well could be. As much as he’s loathe to admit it, Seungmin’s bored. He’s so bored he spends his days drinking at bars and his nights watching crime tv show reruns and eating out tubs of icecream. He hates himself, for this person he’s become, but he doesn’t know how to stop. 

Eventually he sits forward in his chair and looks over the documents again, scratching at his mole on his left cheek, a habit he’s had since he was a boy.

“It won’t work.” The man’s smile falls. “I mean, they’re all ‘one for all and all for none’. They won’t work together. And they certainly won’t work for you.”  
“No, no, they will. For ten thousand dollars each they will. For you, though, as the leader, as the mastermind behind the scheme, I’ll double it. And-” he pauses, out of character for a man who's just spent the last hour letting his words bounce of this empty bar’s walls. “And don’t you want to get back at the organization that killed your family?” 

If it’d been anyone else, talking about anything else at all, anywhere else but here, in this moment, with this odd, odd man, Seungmin would’ve leapt across the table and choked them to death; he had before, though no one needed to know that. Instead, he popped his knuckles and watched, with each passing second, as the man in front of him began to feel nervous, and show it. Sweat seeped into his brow, and his legs began to shake. 

Seungmin bit back a smile- a truly wicked smile, might he add- and leaned back in his chair. “Well, you just had to bring my family into this, didn’t you?” He let that smile continue to grace his features, easy and fierce, and decided to let this silly piece of fate slide into place. “When do we start?” 

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Several days later, just after sunset, four people with no connections to one another other than their current mission converge on a sidewalk in the streets of Miroh. Each of the four have their own duffle bags. When they meet they all turn to face one building. After a moment, three of them break off, heading in that direction, while the other stays and watches. Then he too turns and walks on his own path.

Today, they are allies. Tomorrow, they will have never known one another in any sort of capacity.

Seungmin sets himself up in the building across the street, getting a perfect view through all the windows but still having a computer and projector for floor plans stretched across one wall. 

“Okay, testing, testing, one two.” Seungmin hears a snort and sighs. “It’s worked for me thus far, and I will continue to use it til the day I die.” 

“Til the day he dies, the man says,” someone grumbles, the voice recognizable by the deep rasp that can only be Felix’s. The hitter’s notorious for how deep his voice can get.

“Fuck no.” the sudden swear startles Seungmin as he’s leaning over the table with his items spread out. He straightens, apprehensive, before rolling his eyes at the oncoming tirade. “These bad boys ain’t bad at all. I’m pulling out my own digs.” 

“Alright, but don’t be pulling out some bombs on us.” He can hear the disdain from the other end of the comms, leaking off the hacker himself. 

“I’ve been doing this since late primary bruh, I know how to handle this.” 

“Here,” Hyunjin adds. There’s a rustling sound, and then Seungmin hears Felix’s breathing a lot clearer. “It’s a bow conduction earpiece mic. It’ll help when you speak through your jaw and not your lips.” The last part was a jab, a childish one, mayhaps, but it still has Seungmin muffling his amusement with a cough.

“You’re not as useless as you look.” Felix’s voice gives nothing away. Hyunjin snorts. 

“What do you even do?” Before he can answer, there’s another rustling sound, and then- the voice Seungmin was not pleased to hear rang through his earpiece.

“Can I have one?” 

“You can have the whole box.” Thankfully, despite Seungmin’s distrust of the thief, neither of the others in the team seem to have a problem with them. 

“Last time I used this rig, it was Berlin, 2007.” Han’s voice comes in over some bickering between the hacker and the hitter. 

“Are you talking about the- nevermind.” Seungmin catches himself before he can engage in a conversation with the thief. “Everyone ready? We’re going to go on my count, not too soon and not too late. Guys. Guys?” He tries to use his voice to break through the semi chaos on the next rooftop over. “Guys, we ready?” 

“Is it even, well, safe?” Felix rumbles.

“Yep! Perfectly. Except for the uh- well, you know- the occasional nausea, tingling, possible stroke….strokiness…”

“You are the very definition of why I work alone.” 

“Okay! That’s enough!” Seungmin succeeds in gaining their attention in the form of silence. “Ready? On my countdown. Five, four-”

“After this I’m gonna spend the money on a yacht.” 

“Don’t you already have a yacht?” 

“Yes, but she gets lonely when I’m not there, ya know?” 

“And on the count of five, four, three-” 

“Ope, they’re gone.” 

“Fucking- Han!” 

Seungmin grabs for his binoculars and peers to the other side of the street- he sees Han fall off the roof, letting out a happy yell, before sliding to a stop at a window, still several of ten stories above the ground. He sighs. So much for his countdown. He never liked those anyway. 

“Too much crazy in that little body,” Felix grumps. Seungmin nods even though no one else can see him. He has to agree- Han has always been this wild, though. It’s part of their nature. 

“The motion sensors are on.” 

“Use what you got as a backup, then.” Seungmin gets down to business, pushing aside the feelings he has for each and every person on this mission. It can wait. He watches as Han pulls out a neon turquoise glowing stick and begins to draw on the window. “No, no. Please, just a normal circle. Do not draw a dick cutout on this corporation’s window, please.” 

Han groans in his ear. “But-” 

“No buts!” 

“So no butts, and not dicks. Got it.” Hyunjin, whose laugh is the most adorable laugh that Seungmin has ever heard, lets out a cackle before he muffles himself, trying to remain quiet as he and Felix slip into the building through the air vents. “Just a boring circle. What a waste.” The thief finishes off their drawing and carefully pulls the glass out of its socket before dropping it to the ground below. There’s no point in reprimanding them now. They’d all just have to hope that no one happened to be standing there; or that no one finds it before they’re done. 

Once Han has snuck into the server room and hacks into the security cameras, they let down Hyunjin and Felix, responding to Seungmin’s check in question with a simple “The boys are on their way.” 

“How about security? What’s that looking like?” 

“They can’t see a thing.” A pause, then. “The doors are open.” 

“Alright!” Seungmin claps his hands, rubbing them together before turning back to his projected screen. “It’s showtime, kids.” He receives three, very loud, very exaggerated groans in his ear but pays them no mind. They may all be around the same age, Seungmin being only a few months younger than the rest of them, but he has more experience with this sort of thing than any of them combined do, and well- he’s also the unofficial team leader. They can complain later, just as he will shudder later about having to work with Han. 

Hyunjin and Felix make it to their destination in no time, standing outside the door as Hyunjin’s tech slowly goes through door codes. It’s as Seungmin is going through his documents he has pulled up again that notices something. Time seems to slow down as his brain whirls, calculating. 

“Are you sure there’s nothing going on with the guards? Is there chatter?” Han sounds confused as they respond with a noise of confirmation. “There’s nine guards listed on the duty roster, but only four are at the guard post.”

“I can’t even tell how many are in the- how can you? Even?” Han’s voice is filled with an odd sort of awe; odd, because to Seungmin, that’s new. But he’ll deal with those emotions later. 

“Haircuts, Han. Count them.” Seungmin doesn’t wish to linger on this part of the conversation when there are more important topics to discuss- like where the other guards are. 

Felix’s voice sounds in their earpieces. “Problem?” 

“Uh, maybe?” Seungmin swallows his nervousness. He hasn’t ever lead a team before. Like them, he’s always worked on his own, enjoyed that, even. Now, in the field but not, standing off on the sidelines but still calling the shots, its nerve wracking. He knows he can get them out in one piece if he can just toss his anxiety out the window, like Han did with the glass. “Run the cameras.” 

“A ten digit password.” Hyunjin’s words hold a flair for the dramatics in them. “I salute you good sir.” 

“Got them!” Han comes through, again, voice rushed and agitation beginning to drip into their tone. “They’re doing their walkthrough an hour early, why the fuck-”

“The games,” Seungmin answers, unperturbed. “They want to catch the games, so they’re doing their walkthrough an hour early. Alright, Felix? You’re up. Use Hyunjin as bait if you need to.” 

“Bait? Wha- hold up, hold up, wait a minute,” Hyunjin stammers, as Felix makes to move out of sight and Han forces the guard post to turn off the connection to the guards on the way down the hall, heading towards where the hacker is trying to work. “Y’all better not be talking about me, I ain’t nobody’s bait.” 

“No you’re right. We mean some other Hyunjin that’s not trying to hack into a room on the 21st floor.” Felix’s deep voice gets deeper as his irritation bleeds through his words. “Dumbass” is whispered quieter, but the rest of the team can hear it. Seungmin covers his mouth so he doesn’t laugh. Cute.

“Hyunjin, they’re almost there.” Hyunjin groans as Han’s words. 

“Come on, baby, please.” When nothing happens, he moves, only to let out a quiet panicked noise. The guards must be upon him. “Aw man.” He groans, and there’s the sound of clothes and a bag rustling.

Seungmin can imagine what happens next. He’s seen it before; several more times that Felix himself knows. The hitter will take each and every one of the five guards down before the bag Hyunjin was holding and then dropped even hits the floor. Based on the impressed noise Hyunjin and Han both give after a few seconds have passed, especially after Felix says “That’s what I do!”, he can assume he was correct in thinking that. 

“Alright! We’re in!” Hyunjin and Felix enter the data room, Hyunjin quickly downloading the documents they need to complete this job.

“Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go!” Seungmin doesn’t mean to sound pushy, or to be a bad boss, but the longer they wait the harder it will be to get them out- he’s hopeful he doesn’t have to get to his Plan M. “I can’t see in there, so you all have to talk to me.” 

“It’s all good,” Hyunjin reassures. “I’m stripping the drives now.” He chuckles, obviously pleased with himself. “Got all the designs, got all the backup.” 

“Drop the spike.” Seungmin hears how his voice lowers in pitch, a rumble echoing with the last word. He likes how he sounds. He also likes how the others respond, especially Hyunjin, who just laughs. The hacker’s laugh is adorable, but when he’s in work mode it’s dangerous sounding, a darker melody crackling over their ear pieces. 

“Did you give ‘em a virus?” 

“Dude, I gave ‘em two.” 

“Problem!” Han’s voice cuts through the conversation. “Those guards you spoofed? They reset all the alarms, so the roof and upper floors above us are locked down.” 

“Well, every man for himself then.” 

“Bro, I have the merchandise.” 

“Bro, I have an exit.” 

“And, ‘bro’, I’m the one with the plan. Now, I need all three of you to shut up and hold it together for exactly seven more minutes, can you do that?” The arguing stops abruptly at Seungmin’s words. “Good. Get on the elevator and head down. We’re doing the burn scam.” 

“So, we’re going to Plan B?” 

“Technically, that would be Plan G.” Seungmin finishes packing up the rest of this things and hurries down and out of the building he’s in, needing to go grab a car and pull it around to the front for them when the rest of the team exits. 

“How many plans do we have?” Even at Hyunjin’s question, Seungmin does not pause in his movements. “Is there, like, a Plan M?”

“Yea, Hyunjin dies in Plan M.” 

“I like Plan M.” Felix’s comment makes Seungmin choke on a laugh, this time not even bothering to try to muffle the sound. He tunes out the bickering as the three begin their next stage as the elevator continues to go down.

Seungmin is sitting in a car at the entrance, smiling to himself as he listens to both Hyunjin and Felix antagonize the poor security guard who was waiting for them when the elevator doors opened. Han is playing their part perfectly: not too dramatic, just believable enough with a cast, cane and burn scars painted hastily onto their right cheekbone a minute prior. It’s incredible, really, how three criminals and one honest man notorious for being loners came together to pull of a heist, and with such ease at that. 

This fact keeps Seungmin’s thoughts about his previous notions of the three to himself, even as he stands in front of Hyunjin, hurrying the hacker in his motions to send the documents and files to their client. It’s cold, too cold to just be standing still, and Seungmin is craving a drink. And maybe some ice cream, to celebrate a job well done. 

“Alright, alright! Sent.” Seungmin sighs.

“Good. The money should be in everyone’s accounts later today.” 

“Can I just say? We rocked earlier today.” Felix snorts at Hyunjin’s words. 

“Yea, yea, no encores.” 

“I’ve already forgotten your names.” That’s Han, whose standing there in the cold, body loose and smokey blue hair rustling in the wind. 

“Well, it was kinda cool being on the same side,” Hyunjin pushes, pointedly aiming his words at Seungmin, who shakes his head.

“No, we are not on the same side. I am not a thief.” 

“You are now.” Seungmin glares at Han, all emotions he’s pushed down threatening to bubble up in one swallow. “Come on Seungmin, tell us the truth. Didn’t you have a little more fun playing as the black king instead of the white knight? Just this once?” 

Instead of answering, Seungmin turns, and after a few seconds so do the others, crossing and crisscrossing until everyone is going in an entirely different direction then where they were previously pointed. Just like that the four of them vanish, never to have to see one another in a scenario like this again.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

But, as life would have it, and Seungmin’s especially, he finds himself on a phone call with Victor Dubenich, as the man calls himself (it took Seungmin a blink or two to realize the man was serious). He’d been woken up by a ringing sound not even several hours after the heist, having passed out after only one bottle of scotch. 

“Yea?” He hopes the person on the other end can hear just how pissed he is with one word. As it would turn out, the voice on the other end is just as equally pissed off sounding, if not more so. 

“You screwed me!” Seungmin sits up in bed with a groan, hating how his limbs felt like rubber and thorns all at once. 

“Look, I dunno what to tell you. I saw the designs go out. I told you not to trust them, what did you expect?” He doesn’t need this Victor guy to elaborate on what he means. Half awake and hungover Seungmin isn’t stupid, just exhausted, and horribly irritated at anyone who disturbs his sleep.

“Well, it wasn’t my job to trust them, was it? It was your job to keep them in line.” Seungmin sighs. He does not want to have this conversation, especially with an angry man like Dubenich himself, but he resigns himself to his fate.

“Fine, fine. I’ll come into your office and we can-” 

“No, not my office. We have an old aircraft facility, I’ll text you the address. Be there in an hour.” 

Everything about this feels wrong: the phone call, the drive there, and what Seungmin finds once he steps inside the old warehouse. It’s one of those abandoned ones that the government hasn’t torn down yet to put housing in place, as it's a bit far from the inner city itself, and probably not a level of highest concern. 

He finds Felix and Hyunjin arguing, Hyunjin pointing a gun at Felix. He sniffs, then takes in a breath.

“Hey!” His shout echoes in the building, both men swiveling to stare at him. 

“Did you do it?” 

“Why would I?” 

“You’re the only one who's ever played both sides.” Seungmin rolls his eyes, and chooses not to respond to that. Instead he addresses Felix, who's looking far too comfortable in this situation.

“You’re pretty relaxed for a guy with a gun pointed at him.” 

“Safety’s on,” Felix states, staring Seungmin straight in the eyes. Hyunjin lets out a huff.

“Like I’m gonna fall for that.” 

“Actually no, he’s right.” Seungmin doesn’t glance at the gun, but he’d already seen it when he walked up to know it to be true. “The safety is on.” When Hyunjin goes to check he snatches it out of the hacker’s hands. “You armed?” He addresses this to Felix.

The hitter shakes his head, slowly, and barely noticeable. “I don’t like guns.” They hear a click of a gun behind them and Seungmin whirls, unintentionally putting his back to the hacker and hitter, protecting them, but- it's just Han, stepping out from the shadows, gun pointed at all three of them.

“My money is not in my account.” Han pouts. “This makes me cry inside, in my special angry place.” 

Seungmin reaches out a hand and places it on top of Han’s where it clutches at the gun they hold. “Okay, Han,” he says, lowering Han’s arm until the gun is out of sight. “Now, would you come here to get paid?” 

“Uh, no?” Hyunjin gives Seungmin a look like he just asked the stupidest question to date- and maybe he did. He’s been out of the game for so long he doesn’t know what’s in or out. “Age of the geek, baby.” Gestures to his phone like its the answer for everything.

“This was supposed to be walk away. I’m never supposed to see any of you again,” Felix rumbles, face twisted up in a frown. He doesn’t seem angry, just irritated, and confused. 

“And the only reason any of you guys are here is because you didn’t get paid-” Seungmin breaks off to let out a crazed laugh. “Oh, Cle. And you’re pissed off about it, huh?” He laughs for a few more seconds. “I mean, the only way to get us all the same place is to tell us that we’re all not getting. Paid.” He pauses, and his heart stops. Oh, Cle indeed. 

For a moment, all four of them look at each other, and then they’re off running towards the entrance. Hyunjin falls and Seungmin grabs him by his jacket collar, dragging him as he continues forwards. “Come on! Hustle, hustle!” He stays behind, trying to get the doors to shut, and see the fire come towards him. “Fuck. Cle, save me.” And then he blacks out.

When he comes to, it's in a hospital room, and he groans. He hears a hum from somewhere to his right.

“You don’t like hospitals, do you?” It’s Felix, handcuffed like he is, he realizes, a worried expression in the hitter’s face. It’s clear to Seungmin at least that the hitter is nervous. 

“Not much.” His voice comes out more serious than he intends, but it makes Felix looks more concerned either way. 

“About fucking time.” He jolts, hearing a voice coming through the vents. “Cops and firefighters showed up right as we were waking up.” 

He sighs. Han. “Where are we?” 

“District Hospital.” Great. His least favorite one of them all. Now that he looks closer, the rooms seem familiar. The memories of this hospital he has aren’t great ones; he’s blocked most of the memories from his mind but he’s getting a few flashes of sterile white walls and screaming. He blinks a few times before turning his attention back to the problem at hand.

“Have we been found out?” Felix shakes his head.

“Not yet. There’s a call into the Capital. We’re dead meat after that.” 

“How long?” 

“Ten minutes, give or take.” 

“Fuck.” Seungmin swears under his breath, or at least, he thinks he does, but a snort through the vents shows otherwise. Felix watches him. 

“I can take the cops.” 

“Don’t you dare. You’ll screw up my getaway.” 

“Hey, hey, wait a minute. I’m still handcuffed to the bed, I can’t even go to the bathroom. And I need to go to the bathroom.” 

“Okay, okay, hold up, stop talking.” Hyunjin falls silent, still grumbling. “Han? Get me a phone. We’re gonna get out of here together.” 

“This was a one time deal,” Felix reminds him. Seungmin shakes his head. 

“Look, guys, here’s the problem. You all know what you can do. I know what you all you can do, so that gives me the edge, the plan.” 

Han speaks up. “I don’t trust these guys.” Seungmin sighs, defeated.

“Do you trust me?” Felix smiles at him from his chair, a broken smile, but a smile nonetheless.

“Of course. You’re an honest man.” Seungmin nods, relieved.

“Han. Phone.” 

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

“Bought first class tickets to anywhere but here coming right up,” Hyunjin says as they walk through a fancy apartment; whether it's the hacker’s or not, he does not say. After having faked himself as an undercover agent and driving away the rest of the group, the hacker is seeming very pleased with himself. Seungmin can’t blame him. It was all well played. 

(The thieves had all looked on in awe as Seungmin impersonated government official after government official, fearlessly calling the cops outside the door and tricking them into believing that Hyunjin was an undercover agent. Hyunjin, in turn, was rapidly typing away on his phone, making up a whole fake file on himself and his assignment. 

It wasn’t until Hyunjin was driving them away in a squad car, after going as far as to solute the cops in a silly manner and thank them for their service that the hacker realized how Seungmin always had a plan, and could change it as quickly as he could come up with one. The younger was something of a legend among thieves. The older hacker was impressed with his skills, seeing them up close and personal. Without him all of the thieves would have been screwed).

“I’m going to punch that dude so badly-” 

“You won’t get anywhere near him.” Han leans up against a wooden pillar, watching Felix flex his fists. 

“He tried to kill us!” 

“More importantly, he didn’t pay us.” Felix looks like he’s ready to punch Han instead, gnashing his teeth together in frustration pent up from confusion. 

“How is that more important?” 

Han lifts their gaze up to the ceiling. “Because I take that personally.” Felix shakes his head. 

“There’s something wrong with you. I hope you know that.” 

“Hey, hey!” Hyunjin’s voice breaks through the conversation at hand. Seungmin had been leaning over, stabbing his fingers into his forehead and praying that a drink would magically appear. At the hacker’s words, he turns and sees several screens loading up information- information about Dubenich. 

“So it looks like Dubenich’s story was mostly true. He is a lead designer at Air Grays, and he did have a major shareholders’ meeting. What he didn’t tell us-” the hacker gestures at the screen on the far right, “is this.” He presses play on a video. The CEO of Harroways is talking to the press, saying how their designs were stolen and they aimed to put all their resources into finding the perpetrators. 

Seungmin walks forwards, mind whirling. “It could be a cover story.” 

Hyunjin shakes his head. “No way. I’ve gone through the backlog of the prints we stole. All those timestamps date back in the timeframe he,” he waves a hand at the video, “is talking about.” 

“So we just stole.” Han’s voice is neutral. 

“Why would he lie to us?” Hyunjin’s genuine confusion makes Seungmin feel almost sorry for the other man. He huffs out a tired laugh. 

“Because you’re thieves. He played you, conned you, double crossed you, made you see him as the good guy when really, he was just one of you.” 

“Then why didn’t you see it coming?” 

“Because I’m not a thief.” Seungmin is done with Han’s pressing questions and this awful to god conversation. He just. Really wants a drink. He hears Felix walk up behind him, drawing in a breath to speak, but before he can Hyunjin is out of his chair, handing out papers to them. 

“I’ve bought plane tickets for the fake IDs I’ve had made.” Hyunjin tries to hand something to Seungmin but he walks past the hacker, staring down at a computer screen with Dubenich’s face plastered on it. He smirks. 

“You’re running.” 

“Well yes, of course we’re running you-” 

“No, no.” Seungmin cuts into Felix’s newest tirade. He leans on the desk, palms holding his weight evenly as he stares at the picture in the face. “You’re. Running. You’ve got your balls dipped in honey and served on a silver platter for the shareholders, and your hands in the honeypot that is the stock prices.” He feels his smirk grow on his face. “We can’t let this guy cool down.” 

“You want to run game on this guy?” Felix’s voice is incredulous. “You?” 

Seungmin shrugs. “You all call me an honest man, and I don’t disregard that fact, but how do you think I got most of my stolen merchandise back?” Neither of the three thieves in front of him have an answer to that. Of course they wouldn’t know. “I mean this guy, he thinks he’s won, so he’ll get reckless. He’s a great mark.” 

Han’s face eases into a dangerous smile. “He does think he killed us off. Stupid son of a bitch.” 

Felix touches Seungmin’s arm. “What’s in it for me?” 

“Payback.” Seungmin doesn’t miss a beat. “And if it goes right, a lot of money.” 

“What about me?” Han is fully smiling now, evil or not. 

“A lot of money. And if it goes right, payback.” When Hyunjin doesn’t say anything, Seungmin raises his eyebrows. “Hyunjin?” 

“I was just going to send a couple hundred waifu pillow cases to his office, but yea, that’s my kind of plan right there.” Felix’s brow furrows. 

“What’s in it for you?” Seungmin takes note of the way his hands have stopped shaking, how time and space around him have halted entirely to where he can feel the temperature in the room drop, the aura becoming silent, and the harshness of his words piercing the air when he says-

“He used my family.” None of them say anything. Felix, especially, looks heartbroken, empathetic, but he chooses not to reply, simply squeezing Seungmin’s wrist he still holds before releasing it. He blinks, straightens his back, and nods once. “Alright, let’s go get I.N.” 

As he walks out of the room, he hears Felix ask, “What the fuck is an I.N?!?” 

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

The four of them find themselves in a run down theatre in the darker edge of town, where a man stands on stage, messing up his monologue horrifically. Han, whose normally straight faced, has the most appalled expression, unable to hide anything in pure shock. Seungmin is thoroughly amused with all three of their reactions, regardless of how justified they are given the acting is just so fucking awful. 

“He’s fucking awful,” Hyunjin states, unintentionally quoting Seungmin’s thoughts as he watches the man trips and catches himself, playing it off as part of the script. 

“Was he dropped on his head as a baby?” Seungmin holds back a laugh at Han’s fiercely whispered question, not wanting to disturb the moment.

“No, no. This is not his real stage.” He gets up and leaves, and the other three are happy to follow. 

They wait at the end of the alleyway at the back of the theatre. All three of them have tried and failed to get Seungmin to leave, to find someone else, literally anyone, but he stays put, waiting. He knows this I.N., knows that they need him; he won’t need them, he never needs anyone, but Seungmin wants him to want them, to want this. It’s a nice thought.

When I.N. exits the building, Felix tries one last time, begging Seungmin not to. He shakes his head. “Dubenich knows us. We need someone that he won’t know.” He walks forwards, clapping. 

The man pauses in his movements of putting on his coat, recognizing Seungmin with raised eyebrows. He walks forward, limbs graceful; Seungmin has always envied the other in that. 

“My only fan.” I.N. smiles, a true smile. “But now I’m just an honest citizen, trying to get by like the rest of em.” 

“Trying being the keyword.” There are sounds of Hyunjin being hit, as he makes a dying animal choking sound, and Seungmin closes his eyes and takes in a breath, not wanting to ruin this moment, either. 

“I’m not.” He opens his eyes, gauging the other’s reaction. I.N’s eyebrows are raised even further, before his whole expression softens into something open, and honest, which is rare. 

“About time you joined our side.” How he knows that the three behind him are thieves is not a surprise, but this acceptance is slightly surprising, to say the least. 

“Are you in?” Seungmin struggles for words, not used to being this close to someone with his secrets. I.N. nods immediately. 

“I wouldn’t miss this for anything else in the world.” Seungmin thinks he might be exaggerating but chooses not to comment on that, instead pivoting around on his heel and clapping his hands. 

“Alright! Let’s go break the law one more time.” If everyone rolls their eyes, smiling, no one calls each other out on it. 

They end up back at the apartment Hyunjin brought them to originally (“Man oh man, the story behind this place is a trip. You know when-” “Hyunjin! No one cares.” “Harsh, dude. Really harsh.”), everyone except Seungmin seated on the couches. He chooses to stand behind them, wanting to have space when he’ll begin to pace around on the floor. Hyunjin has pulled up information on a big flat screen tv. 

“Viktor Dubenich, masters degree from Harvard, blah blah blah.” He glares at Felix who pushes his butt a bit farther into his personal space bubble trying to move past with the popcorn. 

“Viktor.” Seungmin rolls around the syllables on his tongue. “When was the last time you met a Viktor.” 

“Ten years ago, in the last war.” 

“The Miroh border.” Felix turns to stare at I.N. intently. The grifter is sitting next to the hitter, writing something down in his notebook. When he notices the lull in conversation, he looks up. “What?” 

“That’s an odd thing for you to know.” 

“That’s an odd place to be.” As they hold a staring contest, Seungmin gestures for Hyunjin to continue, smiling to himself. 

“Now, Air Grays is in charge of all their government contracts, top secret, classified stuff.” 

“Can we use that?” Han is shoveling as much popcorn as they can fit into their mouth, storing food in their cheeks like a squirrel would. Hyunjin looks both awed and horrified; I.N. and Felix are still having a staring contest.

“N-no, I don’t think so. Dubenich deals more with their commercial and marketing.”

“Now I know when you sent Dubenich the designs you weren’t supposed to make any copies..” Seungmin trails off, waiting. Hyunjin does the “cross my heart and hope to die” gestures. He feels himself begin to grin. “Show me your copies.” 

The five of them watch as airplane designs are brought up on the screen. They seem rather generic, but as Hyunjin is flipping through the pages Seungmin sees something and stands, pacing back and forth behind the couch. He can feel his brain whirling, running a mile a minute, but none of those still seated on the couch pay him any mind. Like I.N., they have picked up on his need to move when he’s trying to work his thoughts out of his head. 

Seungmin zones back in to Felix saying, “I mean, that is an airplane.” 

“Not just any airplane.” The thieves turn to look at him as he comes to a full stop, voice steady and words firm. “That’s a short haul domestic airliner. They’re meant for fast travel over long distances. With those designs, you could build a machine that can get you somewhere in as little as an hour. They’re high tech, fuel efficient, the best of the best.” As he’s talking, each of the group has been watching him with some varying degree of awe. Han has their eyebrows raised in a comical expression, Felix has taken off his glasses while Hyunjin just outright gapes. The only one whose calmer about his spiel is I.N.; he’s still clearly impressed, but not surprised. “You pick up a few things here and there, as one does.” 

“You pick up on a lot of shit,” Hyunjin agrees, bobbing his head up and down. Han lets out a sharp laugh from nowhere; no one comments. “The last thing I found was that Dubenich and Pearson have been rivals for the past five years, trying to get ahead of one another in the industry. Dubenich is the one who ends up taking a shortcut.” The hacker waves his hand in the air. “I hate him, but I can’t blame him. The industry is worth over $50 million.” 

“So, we have a man who has a rival, and he wants to one up him so badly he hires us to steal his designs. Very nice.” Seungmin is brimming with excitement to take this plan down: to use this new team and take him down. This is new, and better than he could have ever dreamed. 

“So what’s your plan, Seungmin?” I.N. looks up at him from his seat. 

He smiles, more to himself, but of course they see it. Ah well. Let them realize how excited he is, if that makes them feel any better. 

“I’m thinking Espers. Espers will do nicely.” He grins, unable to help himself. It's what he deserves after all this time.

As he turns and walks away, he hears I.N. say smartly, “Well he hasn’t changed a bit.” 

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Seungmin, as per usual before any latest conquest, guzzles a whole bottle of vodka down his throat before belching and joining Hyunjin behind the computers. The hacker hasn’t said anything about any of that, but he clearly wants to, side-eying their unofficial leader as he staggers across solid floor. He burps again, closer to the other’s ear, who winces. He decides to ignore that, and instead focuses on I.N. who is talking to Dubenich. 

“Mr. Dubenich. Bang Chan. Consultant and representative for Espers United.” 

“Espers United?” Seungmin can hear the surprise in the man’s voice, and he holds back a grin. Oh yes, this will certainly be fun. Hyunjin sighs. 

“Here comes nothing.” Seungmin rolls his eyes but doesn’t bother to correct the hacker. He’ll hear soon enough just how good I.N. is. 

“You government?” 

“Oh no. We’re a private business, more of a, connection if you will.” 

“Between what?” 

“Between the people and the companies, of course! We’re looking to encourage infrastructure development, and bring about economic renewal.” 

Dubenich sounds uppity as he replies, “I have no idea what you just said. In our tongue, please?” I.N. hums in forced amusement, and Seungmin sends him a flash of comfort. Hearing that phrase most likely brought back memories he did not want to relive, but you’d have no idea with the grifter’s reply. 

“We create jobs and trade for the commonplace, the people of the lower class, those less fortunate than you, or I.” That addition sounds like an afterthought- a gift of knowledge. I.N. knows what he’s doing. Hyunjin seems to be beginning to realize that, the hacker leaning back in his chair and listening with an attentive expression. 

“He’s not awful.” Hyunjin sounds loathe to admit that.

“On this stage, his stage, I.N. is the finest actor you’ve ever seen.” Seungmin holds back a fond tone, or at least tries to. This is no time for sentimentality; that can come later, over a round of drinks after a job well done. “Only when he’s breaking the law, as it would seem.” 

“I don’t know how I can help you with that; how anyone in my position can.” It’s not that he can, it’s that he won’t. Dubenich knows it, I.N. knows it, Seungmin and Hyunjin listening in know it. But instead of replying with- well, with whatever else there could possibly be, I.N. leads Dubenich out of his office effortlessly, and they exit the building, heading to talk somewhere less professional. 

That’s the cue for Felix and Han to enter the scene. Hyunjin crashes Dubenich’s secretary’s computer, and she panics, calling IT. Only, it's not IT who answers. 

“Have you tried restarting your computer?” Han’s got a silly accent going but Seungmin lets it go, deciding there’s bigger things to worry about. Hyunjin looks pleased.

“I told them to say that bit, the computer thing.” Seungmin wants to snap, wants to snark, but instead- instead he compliments. 

“Well done.” Hyunjin preens under the praise, and Seungmin blinks. That wasn’t so bad. Why hasn’t he done that more often? Oh wait, it's because he doesn’t know anyone. He starts eyeing the bottle of wine that was left out from the night prior, but stops himself. This isn’t the time. 

Felix handles his part beautifully. He’s all smiles and soft charm, laughing delicately and blushing at all the right times as he keeps the secretary engaged while Han breaks into Dubenich’s office. 

“I represent investors who wish to build a private airline, one that specifically takes citizens from one side of Miroh to the other.” 

“In the Wastelands?” 

“Okay, he’s testing you.” Seungmin warns I.N. “Say Boxerville.” 

“No no. We’d build it away from the hub of traffic. It’d be in the farther Wastelands, for example, Boxerville. It’s the desert we’re focused on.” 

“Yea, perfect,” Seungmin compliments, almost to himself. Hyunjin sneaks a quick glance up at him, but he doesn’t notice, resuming to his pacing. 

“Those areas are a mess.” A mess is putting it lightly. The Wasteland has been suffering since before the Great War, back when the government first established itself and built a city for the people it favored. 

“New airplanes, designed for those runways, would make it much more comfortable.” 

“Uh huh.” Dubenich sounds distrustful, suddenly. Seungmin stifles the panic that takes hold of him. He grips the back of Hyunjin’s chair, startling the hacker, anticipating what’s said next. “I don’t recall saying anything about new airplanes.

I.N. hurries to placate him. “Viktor, Viktor. You and your chief engineer are scheduled for the next upcoming shareholders meeting. Do you take me for a fool?” 

“I think you know more about me, and my business, than you should.” 

“I’ve done my homework.” I.N.’s voice drops to a more sultry tone. “I find you fascinating.” Viktor lets out a surprised, halfway to flattered laugh at the grifter’s comment.

Hyunjin reels backwards, eyes widened in shock. “O-kay, that is definitely not sucky at all.” 

Seungmin rolls his eyes. “It’s supposed to work on our mark, not on our hacker, Jinnie.” The pet name rolls off his tongue so easily and naturally that he doesn’t even realize what he’s said, not even as the conversation through their earpieces continues. Hyunjin chokes on his soda, spitting it all over his screens and gaping open mouthed at the leader before hastily getting up in search of paper towels. 

After wiping off the last of the sprayed soda on his screens, Hyunjin looks up at Seungmin again, whose kinda zoning in and out. He’s decided to let the nickname go, instead asking, “Shouldn’t I be playing the computer guy?” He’s referring to the sounds of Felix helping (flirting) with Dubenich’s secretary, guiding her along in the process of “rebooting” and “fixing” her computer.

“No. You need to be the actual computer guy, not the fake one.” 

“Yea, Jinnie,” Han’s voice comes in over the comms, startling them both. Their tone is hushed, but the teasing tone is still clear, even if it's muted. “You are the real one.” Effectively, just with using seven words, the thief has managed to not only slap Hyunjin, but also Seungmin and Felix in the same couple of breaths. Felix can’t do a thing, but Hyunjin yelps. 

“Shut up Han!” 

“Jinnie?” Seungmin blinks, brow furrowed. Han laughs, albeit quietly.

“Jinnie was all you, Minnie.” Now Seungmin growls.

“Don’t even go there Han. Get the shit and get out.” He stomps off in search of- well, he is craving a drink but he knows he can’t. Instead he hunts for a glass and fills it with tap water. Hyunjin watches him go, and, even though he can’t see them, Felix and Han’s expressions flicker for a few seconds before they head back to work. 

Their leader sits on a bar stool in the safehouse kitchen, downing some water, whilst Hyunjin rants in Felix’s earpiece about how the hitter is on “thin fucking ice man, that shit is not cool, don’t play with me bruh” for flirting with the secretary. Han breaks up the boys with a couple of words, and they’re back in business, but the three are still worried about the one man whose refused to rejoin reality. 

(It doesn’t hit them until later, when Seungmin has downed 3 bottles of soju and is trying to weedle a shot of straight vodka from I.N. that the trio will realize that being called Minnie was probably something his family did- that his dead family did. They will cringe, and vow to never bring that name up again unless he gives them explicit permission. Until then, they will file that information away, and make sure their team leader doesn’t drink himself to death before that time comes.)

“Wha- what did you say your name was? Uh, Bang-Bangchan-”

“Bang Chan.” 

“Ah, yes, Mr. Bang?” Hyunjin snorts, shaking his head at the man’s obvious ignorance.

“Chris.” I.N decides to ‘take pity’ on him. Viktor lets out a puff of air.

“Chris. Thank you, well- how about this. If a new product gets released, you will be the first call that I make.” 

“You know what to do.” Seungmin’s voice, albeit scratchy, speaks up. The hacker looks over to see Seungmin put the glass he’d been previously using back in the sink before walking back over to the computer set up. 

“We’d like to help build the planes. More jobs, more people off the street, more people given the opportunities that they need.” 

“Atta boy.” Seungmin’s tone is proud. Hyunjin, the only one other than I.N now to have been praised by their leader, relaxes back into his chair. The younger seems calmer after some water hit his system, and I.N has continuously dropped hook, line and sinker, effectively and professionally, so there is nothing really to guide here, but he does it anyways.

“Chris, I’m really sorry, but- well, I don’t think I can guarantee anything at this time.” Hyunjin groans, stretching his long arms back. He nearly hits Seungmin on accident.

“Good try I guess.” Seungmin shrugs.

“Wait for it.” 

Viktor is still talking, assuming that the impromptu meeting outside is done. “I really need to get to a luncheon, so-” 

“I’ll bring the plan to Pearson.” I.N’s tone is upset- upset as in “I’m a professional, this is just another backfire, I have multiple plans, you’re just one of many”, not as in “you’ve hurt me because you as an ‘authority’ said no”. It's a tone of voice that means the conversation is most definitely not over, if you are smart enough to realize that.

As Seungmin has predicted, Viktor is smart enough to realize that. 

“I- I mean, sure, you can go to them, but I’m not sure that Pearson can help you.” His tone is wary. He’s trying to keep the upper hand, as men in power always aim to do, but what he doesn’t know is that he’s sinking fast.

Because what Seungmin knows that Viktor Dubenich doesn’t is that I.N can get angry quickly, with no warning, triggered by something you might say or a mannerism you show mindlessly, with no thought about it for the person in front of you at all. Sometimes it’s innocent; in this poor man’s case, it isn’t. 

It’s just that who he is pisses I.N off so much that the grifter doesn’t bother holding back the scathing tone as he continues with, “No, no. They’re a reputable company, with history in long term investments and aiming to help the community. They’re nothing like you. Definitely a better fit.”

Hyunjin’s lips pucker up in horrified surprise, his eyebrows rising as he realizes just how dangerous the grifter is. Viktor coughs.

“I know that you’re manipulating me, Chris. And I know that you know what you’re doing.” 

I.N laughs. “I should hope so!” He pauses for effect, because both he and Seungmin know that their mark has been caught in their web. “Just imagine- hundreds of millions of dollars worth in these new contracts, all ready to be put into play once you meet with my investors.” 

Seungmin walks away to find his wallet, taking off his earpiece and mic as he goes. He knows what will happen, deciding that he does not need to be here when it goes down. He’s hungry, and still shaken from being called ‘Minnie’. Instead, it's just Hyunjin, sitting at his setup, listening as Viktor Dubenich says he’ll take the meeting. It’s then that the hacker realizes how much their team leader, and this new grifter, have faith in one another, and how that seamless teamwork is now their foundation in getting their revenge. 

He thinks how lucky he is to be on Seungmin’s side this time, and how he hopes its not the last.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Felix, who hadn’t gotten a chance to have a one on one conversation with Seungmin since they’d teamed up, catches him alone at the pool table and offers the older a beer. 

(Everyone else apart of this team of thieves has had chances: I.N and Seungmin had stayed awake late into the early hours of the morning on that first night, drinking wine and catching up, regaling one another with tales and nostalgic anecdotes from their pasts. Hyunjin had taught Seungmin how to play some first person shooter games; they’d played a few matches while Han ate popcorn next to them on the couch. Seungmin had won each round. And lastly, Han, who Seungmin distrusted more than he distrusted himself, had eventually won their leader over with a few stories of the thief's childhood, and apologizing for stepping unwelcomingly into Seungmin’s own. So yea, it was just Felix, and the hitter was going to take his chances.) 

Seungmin shook his head. “No thanks.” He picks up a pole and says, “Five corner” before promptly knocking the ball into the five corner socket. Felix watched on, feeling a fondness well up in him for the older. Their leader has seemed almost puppy like once the hitter, Han and I.N had returned from their work outside the ‘office’, prancing around and seeking approval with in his own ways. He was loose, looser than if he’d had some alcohol in his system, and oh so open with his emotions. It was a nice look on him.

“You look better.” Seungmin looked up at Felix in surprise. “Than when we first started this, I mean.” 

“Yea.” The younger man stood up to his full height; other than Hyunjin, when the hacker wasn’t slouching, he was the tallest of the five, with Seungmin coming a close second. The leader sighed, but didn’t make a move to add anything more to the conversation, so Felix pushed on.

“It bothers you, doesn’t it?” He’d never been very good at, well, hinting at things. He just had to come out and say it. His sister had always said it was part of his charm, and that someone would appreciate it. Maybe Seungmin did, maybe he didn’t, but the leader shrugged in response.

“I- sure? But this, well, it’s not a job, but its not-” 

“It’s not supposed to make you feel good?” Felix supposed that this man was truly trying his hardest, out of everyone here. Being a thief, being on the ‘bad’ side of the law, would be new to him, but he was doing it anyway. That didn’t mean he pitied him, though. “This plan, it's easy for you to carry out. Viktor fucked with you; he screwed us all over. Your brain sees him as the bad guy, this isn’t a fighting the bad as the bad, it's just you fighting a battle.”

Felix doesn’t know what he’s trying to say here anymore. Maybe he wants Seungmin to understand that he was once in his shoes, that he knows that once you do this, there’s no going back. He wants the older to feel less alone, but to also come to terms with the fact that he’s no longer good nor bad; he’s just being human in this instance. 

Seungmin’s honest puppy look shuts down to something more critical, something more- well, more scary than Felix had expected. “Do you want to take your shot?” His words are loaded. 

Pity for himself, than, that Felix isn’t easily scared. 

“I just- I’m sorry about your family.” That’s not what he wanted to say at all, but someone has to start the conversation. The team can’t keep tiptoeing around their leader, their foundation; can’t keep making jokes accidentally and not knowing how to pull the man back when they need him. 

Seungmin stills, goes impeccably silent. It’s like his breathing stops and so does the world, suddenly it all begins to revolve around those two in this very conversation. 

“You don’t know anything about that.” Seungmin sounds so sure of himself, but Felix has news for the older. 

“Oh, but I do. Everyone does. You think a guy like you, with your reputation, going off the grid like that doesn’t go unnoticed?” Seungmin’s smart, this the whole team knows, but he can also be oblivious. This is one of those times, because their leader doesn’t seem to be taking the hitter’s words seriously. “Seriously, man. And it was a terrible story too; it spread like the wildfire it was in your life. How could they justify that, letting their own people die in a fuck up they made?” 

At this point Seungmin’s gone, his eyes appear glazed over, his stance wobbling ever so slightly. Felix takes in a breath, realizing he may have gone too far, reaching out a hand to steady the other man. 

“They claimed it was...experimental.” Seungmin still sounds far away, but then he blinks, and his eyes focus on the hitter in front of him again. Felix lets out a joyless laugh.

“Yea, well, you should’ve kept something that you’d found for yourself. You-” 

“Felix, you and I are not friends.” Felix raises his hands, knowing when he's gone too far, but adding before he leaves,

“Yea, because you have so many of them.” Seungmin flinches, but Felix doesn’t stay to see the wound fester. He’s said enough.

They have work to do tomorrow.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

The next day is D Day (“‘Day of Destruction’” “No, Hyunjin, it’s just called ‘D Day’” “Boring!”) and the team rushes a bit of the last minute prep in favor of someone keeping an eye out for Dubenich. If the man arrives too early and searches for their ‘company’ in the building’s directory it’s game over. This is why I.N needs to be downstairs, but he can’t, the youngest going over last minute touches in the room and double checking that the clients they’ve gathered in the meeting room are ready to go. 

Instead, it’s Seungmin who waits outside, seated across the street, drinking coffee and reading a newspaper, thinking that he looks oh so typical but won’t change this late in the game. He hears Han and Hyunjin bickering somewhere on the upper floors, and sees Felix groan a few tables down from him at their antics. 

It’s a pity that after this job they’re done teaming up together. He’s finally starting to get used to being around other people again, and they’re entertaining, to say the least. 

Seungmin glances up from his paper, his musing dissolving quickly when he sees Dubenich exit his car.

“I.N, Dubenich is here. On site.” 

“What? No, no. They’re not ready.” The ‘clients’ they’ve gathered in the building, the executives of Esper’s United, are actual Espers, but their most common way of communicating is through the mind. They project thoughts through sheer will power. It’s fucking fascinating to Seungmin, who grew up with close minded, Miroh born people. 

“Well, you have to be. If Dubenich tries to find the company in the directory, we’re game over.” 

“Why is that?” 

“Guys we are not in the building directory.” Felix mumbles something about Han having lost a few brain cells to have asked a question like that but he ignores it in favor of rushing the plan along. 

“And why aren’t we in the directory?” Their hitter comes over to sit by Seungmin, taking the seat next to him. Seungmin raises his eyebrows in surprise, but doesn’t comment.

Hyunjin puffs. He’s supposed to be carrying around a tool bag, and is probably traveling by way of the stairs. He and Felix had flipped a coin to see who was going to play the role of maintenance worker and he lost. Their hacker complained about it the whole ride over until Felix threatened to cut off a toe with a tool from the bag. 

“I dunno, probably because they’re fake offices?” His voice drips with so much disgusted sarcasm that Seungmin almost doesn’t recognize him. A possible bickering match is halted by the sound of shoes clacking and buttons clicking before I.N’s panicked voice reaches their ears.

“The elevator’s not working!” Seungmin takes a deep breath, and lets out a sigh. He’s been feeling awful, knowing he’s sitting out here. He knows he’s running the team, that he’s doing his job and doing it well, but he still feels helpless. Hearing the panic in I.N’s voice spurs him into action. He stands up and starts walking, Felix making a noise of surprise before rising and following their leader.

“I’ll distract him. Han, you have ten seconds to get I.N to the lobby.” No one questions who Seungmin means by ‘him’, but there’s a question from Hyunjin (and Felix, who’s following closely on the younger’s tail) about what he’ll do. He pays them no mind. 

As Han helps I.N get ready to fall down (“It wasn’t falling! Well, it was, but in a controlled way.” “Han, there is nothing controlled about falling 20 stories down a rope in a stairwell using a flimsy belt.” “That ‘flimsy’ has saved my ass for the last 5 years thank you very much.”) Seungmin whips out a baton from his jacket. Felix takes three steps back and refuses to budge from the curb, watching as their leader smashes three car’s windshields in quick succession. 

(Although he won’t admit it, Felix felt something warm tingle throughout his whole body as he watched Seungmin smash that glass and then walk away with a shrug, expression set in a neutral resting bitch face but eyes sparkling. Their leader had tucked away the baton and walked back over to his seat, ordering a new cup of coffee and watched as people stressed out over the scene in front of him.

The hitter realized that maybe their leader had a lot more to him than they’d previously thought. That maybe, just maybe, the bad in him was beginning to outweigh the good, and if they weren’t careful he’d tip over into a pit they’d all found themselves in. Except this time, he might not return.

But also: maybe seeing Seungmin break the law like that, so casually and cool, was hot as fuck.)

“We’re on the twentieth floor,” is how I.N greets Dubenich, struggling to keep his breathing in check after falling down all those floors to the ground level.

“Oh! You're ...glowing.” Dubenich says dumb foundedly, sounding both dumb and curious at the same time.

“I’m just excited is all.” Seungmin holds back a laugh, while Felix chokes on his coffee beside him. They hear Hyunjin snort, and Han laugh in their ear pieces. 

As the two ride the elevator, I.N adds, “One more thing. The executives I’m bringing you to will expect some kind of, um. Some kind of compensation.” 

“Ahh,” Dubenich says, not sounding surprised. Seungmin’s sure he’s not, that he was expecting as much. 

“Not a bribe, of course.” 

“A finder’s fee.

“Exactly,” I.N agrees, sounding grateful he understands. 

Right before the elevator doors open, Dubenich says, “I thought your job was to eliminate things like that.” 

There’s a smile in I.N’s voice, one that Seungmin recognizes and smiles along with as the grifter answers. “No. It’s my job to keep it manageable.” 

Seungmin’s jolted out his smile state by Han, who appears out of nowhere and plops down in a chair on the other side of him, propping their feet up on the table. Seungmin frowns, staring at their feet for several seconds before deeming it a lost cause. Felix looks back and forth between the two before startling himself when Hyunjin appears, sitting down in the remaining chair that places him next to the hitter.

“Nice touch with the zipline.” Seungmin’s learned to dole out praise here and there, liking how it seems to please the other members of the team, and how them being pleased makes him feel good. Han laughs.

“Totally thought he was going to faint for a few seconds there. Did pretty well for a first timer” 

“I would’ve.” 

“Of course you would’ve. You’re afraid of heights.” Felix is frowning at Hyunjin, not in an irritated way. It’s interesting how in the short span of a few days they’ve all picked up bits and pieces of personal information about one another. For example, Hyunjin is afraid of heights. 

“He’s going to wrap this up,” Seungmin says, bringing the three away from their conversation on the ‘health benefits of fainting’.

“I believe that we will be able to do a lot of business together, sir.” The “sir” is said in an almost offhand matter, as if, with that one word, the man is trying to tell Dubenich what he thinks of him using the word for this person he’s just met. 

“About that other matter,” I.N adds, before there can be a conflict. 

“Ah yes. Right.” Seungmin pictures in his mind what happens next: I.N getting an envelope from the Espers, handing it over to Dubenich, Dubenich seeing the number and, wow, you can hear it in his voice, plain as day, how pleased he is.

“This going to work, right?” I.N asks as they begin to make their way back home. 

“I guarantee it.” Seungmin’s no Esper, but he can sense that they’re winning, and he’s determined to get his revenge and move on with his life, even if that just means he’s back at square one, drinking in a bar on a weekday at two pm.

The others must hear something in his voice, a crack, or the way his words sound when they meet his tongue, because they don’t say anything else the whole way home. Han walks closer to him, closer than he normally would have liked from anyone, but he doesn’t protest, not even when the older man intertwines their fingers, and Felix takes a place on his left, brushing shoulders occasionally as they make their way through the streets of Miroh.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

The rest of Seungmin’s plan goes a little bit like this: the night before Dubenich confides in his employee, saying that his office has been bugged and to call the government. He rants both that night and the next morning about how their little group would pay because they took him for a fool, wishing to get back at him when they have no standing. 

I.N arrives for the shareholders meeting’s reception, and Dubenich is quick to say that they should get the final signing of the contract over with. Once everyone is settled in the conference room, Dubenich bouncing around like a kid high on sugar, their grifter stands as close to the door as possible, waiting.

“I assume we are all in agreement for the terms laid before us.” The chief executive has all the papers out in order, and looks up at Dubenich for approval after consulting with his colleagues. 

Dubenich smirks. “Well, I’ll tell you the exact terms that I have agreed upon are these.” He presses a button on the desk, upon which government agents enter the room. 

“Are you alright?” One of the agents asks.

“We’re alright,” the Esper says, as Dubenich also says, “I’m fine.” He blinks, realizing what just happened.

“Wait, what?” 

A government official steps forward, body language mildly aggressive. “Viktor Dubenich, you are under arrest for attempted bribery and unlawful detainment of members of the Esper community.” Espers are protected by law. They’re in high demand for working for the government, and anyone who brings or attempts to bring harm down upon them is arrested and detained, usually selling jail time. As the agent talks, Dubenich’s face becomes comically shocked.

“What? No, no. There’s been some kind of mistake. They’re not even Espers.” 

“Yes we are.” The chief executive holds up an ID card. “Your young man knew that when he contacted us.” 

“My- my young man?” Dubenich blinks, looking around. “Chris? Chris?!” But Chris is gone, and instead Dubenich is faced with angry government officials and Espers. 

Dubenich is beginning to realize everything: from the fact that Chris played both sides, to the office not being theirs (and not being his, as they claimed to have met Chris at this ‘other office’) to the shareholders. “The shareholders!” Dubenich exclaims, rushing out past everyone to head back downstairs to the celebration. 

What happens next is utter chaos: Dubenich trying to assure everyone that this is all a misunderstanding, the Espers (rightfully so) being upset when they are accused and demanding their money back, the government officials seizing papers and technology from the company, and the shareholders- oh the shareholders. How mad they are at their celebration being disrupted, and how mad is Dubenich’s partner in the company at all this mess. 

“You can’t seize my computers!” Dubenich tries, one last time. The government official in charge smirks.

“You’re a government contracted company. If, by any chance, you have broken the law, there are serious penalties that will be given to you; and to your company. And, if you are found to have been conspiring to bring harm to Espers, well. Sir, I can take your boxers right off your body, here and now if I wish.” 

Dubenich’s team is caught shredding files. That’s not surprising, and neither is the government seizing all of the company’s documents and deciding to shut it down for the time being. 

Seungmin goes to meet with Pearson, Dubenich’s rival, to personally hand back the airplanes designs the team accidentally stole from him. 

“You came alone,” is how Pearson greets him.

“Yes I did.” Seungmin holds up a drive. “I have full copies of everything that was wiped from your system, along with proof that it was on Air Gray’s harddrives, if you wish to sue.” 

Pearson nods. “I’ve dropped the investigation on the original theft. Seems only fair, given the fact that my designs have returned. I won’t be hunting you or your people.” 

His people. Yes, Seungmin supposed, as he watched the older man walk away, they were his people. Pearson pauses before turning in his tracks. “Don’t you people want money?”

“No.” Seungmin replied, a genuine smile on his face. “We have an alternative revenue stream.” 

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

As Seungmin walks to the nearby park, he calls Dubenich.

“Hello?” Dubenich answers after a few rings. He smirks.

“You should’ve just paid us.” 

“I found the transmitter.” Dubenich sounds so lost, so broken, so defeated in those few words that Seungmin can’t even hold back a laugh. 

“No, what you found was a box with a blinking light. We wanted you to figure some of it out- then we just gave you what you were expecting.” 

“I am Viktor Dubenich. I will beat this.” Seungmin isn’t threatened in the slightest.

“Ah ah ah! Don’t forget about the bribe.” 

“Who cares? They can’t prove anything, I didn’t get any money-” Right as he says this, there's talk of finding money in his office a few paces away from wherever he is in the building. Dubenich sucks in his breath. 

“Well, they won’t find all of it,” Seungmin tacks on, enjoying this to a point he hates to admit how good it makes him feel. “I.N kept some of it to buy an impressive number of knives for his collection.”

Seungmin sees the other four approaching him in the distance. I.N is telling them about one of his new knives, turning it over so Han can see. Felix and Hyunjin are huddled together, almost as if they’re afraid of the youngest. They should be: I.N with a knife in hand is a hot thing to see. He continues with Dubenich, watching as the rest of the team catches sight of him and takes in the aura surrounding their team leader.

“See, in Miroh, stock prices mean everything. Influence means everything. Connections mean everything. We didn’t need to tamper with any of that, though. We just needed to have the government show up at your company in front of cameras. All. Day. Long.” When he’s about ten feet away from the rest of the team he adds, “Losing all of that is great, but you going to jail is an added bonus. Next time, well. Next time we’ll be a lot worse.” He hangs up before the other can say anything. He doesn’t need to; Dubenich knows he’s fucked, and there’s nothing he can do or say now. Seungmin tosses the phone in a nearby trash can, grinning widely, and joins his team.

Hyunjin hands out envelopes to each of them. They all open theirs, whistling at the numbers they see printed on the sheets of paper. 

“Job well- whoa.” Seungmin’s praise is cut off mid word in surprise. He lifts his head to stare at Hyunjin, the older watching him fondly. 

“There was an overlap in the stock market, and-” He pauses and shakes his head. “I’m just very good at what I do,” he finally settles on. 

Felix grins. “Someday kiss that man so I don’t have to.” They all freeze, before Han bounces over and presses a kiss on Hyunjin’s one cheek while I.N does on the other. Their hacker’s blushing full force now.

“Come on Felix, you should do it now.” Felix grumbles but obliges, pressing a soft kiss to the older’s cheekbone and whispering something before pulling away, lacing his fingers with their hacker’s. Everyone turns to look at Seungmin.

“What? No, no. I-” He stops, looking at the four individuals in front of him. He softens. “Alright, alright!” Seungmin strides forwards, pulling Hyunjin’s face down an inch to press a kiss against the older’s forehead before doing the same to the other three. When he’s done they’re blinking at him, gazes a range of stunned to stupefied. 

He smiles at them, one final time. “Well, pleasure working with you.” He turns to walk away, not even bothering to wait for them to criss cross. His heart hurts. 

As Seungmin walks, he hears footsteps coming up behind him. He feels tears gather at the corners of his eyes, but he keeps walking, refusing to look back until he’s sure.

“You know,” Hyunjin says, the older moving up to walk at their leader’s pace, “I never had that cool of time on any job. And I have concentration issues, but you- you kept me right on.” 

“I’m really good at one thing-” 

“Han,” Seungmin starts. It’s one thing for Hyunjin, who he has mutual respect for, to come up and start begging, but it's another entirely for one of his (previously) least favorite people to do so. 

“Only one thing! But you, you know many things and I don’t want to stop doing my one thing when we could do our many things together-” 

“You wanna know what I think?” That’s Felix, taking Hyunjin’s place by his side.

“Not really,” Seungmin admits. He’s still kind of scared from that conversation at the pool table from the night before.

“How long until you fall apart again?” 

“Oh I’m touched bro.” Seungmin flinches, hoping it’s not noticeable. “I’m sure I’ll figure something out.” His phone rings and he answers, grateful for the distraction. “Ah...fuck.” 

It’s I.N, whose seated on a bench up ahead off the side of the path, watching the older three trying and failing to say what they all want to say to each other. It seems that not one of them is good with words, or with being honest. Their grifter approaches the little group, and stands firmly in front of Seungmin, looking at him in the eye. 

“You pick the jobs.” Seungmin lifts up his shoulders, arms stretched outwards on both sides in a ‘whatever’ gesture.

“My job was- is- helping people. I chase bad guys down.” 

“Well go find some bad guys. Bad guys have money.” When the younger puts it like that, well, who is Seungmin to refuse his team? 

“Black king.” I.N says as they walk off in the direction of some well earned dinner. “White knight.” 

“Guess I could have some fun playing the Black King for a little while.” Hyunjin whoops, dragging Felix and Han with him as he takes off down the sidewalk, I.N and Seungmin following more slowly.

Maybe this is what he’s needed after all: someone to love. In this case, four people. He can live for that; for them.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Bonus:

After Felix walks away, ripping apart Seungmin’s mask and dragging the pieces along the floor with him as he goes, I.N walks over to the pool table, holding an ear piece and wearing a coy smile. Seungmin knows that look. He’s only seen it once, but it was enough that he can confidently say that the younger is up to something, most likely along the lines of making him flustered.

I.N holds out his earpiece. “Think you can help me with this?” Seungmin’s hand stutters, or maybe it’s his heart, because I.N’s expression is fond and sensual and protective all at the same time.

He swallows. “Sure thing.” As he’s adjusting the earpiece in the younger’s ear, their grifter watches him closely, eyes following each and every little movement that most people wouldn’t be able to pick up on. Like the way he shifts his right foot every now and again; or the way he is extra careful touching the younger’s hair, cradling the ear so gently and lightly that the touch isn’t noticeable; or the way their leader’s shoulders curl in on himself when he’s done, stepping back several paces to put distance between the two of them. 

Seungmin’s always been not too keen on touch, whether its others touching him or he touching them. It’s like his limbs dance out from underneath hands, and his fingers aren’t quite sure of their strength. I.N has seen the older interact with others, how, when he’s excited or in his zone, he touches people without thinking, caresses and squeezes and firm tugs. Their grifter wishes he could be that open and loving all the time, but given his background, his history, and his current state of mind, it’s too much to ask for. 

I.N blinks, watching as their leader rubs a spot on his arm. “Thanks. For the earpiece, I mean.” Seungmin nods, seeming distracted. 

“Is that all?” 

“That’s all.” As I.N turns to leave, he catches the eye of Hyunjin, whose got a soda bottle partially raised to his lips, watching the interaction with bug eyes. Upon meeting the younger’s eyes, their hacker takes a big swig and makes a gesture to his arm, and then back to Seungmin, who is still standing by the pool table, lost in thought.

I.N shrugs and leaves, but not before he hears Hyunjin roll his chair and start making silly noises at Seungmin to get his attention. When he looks back, it’s to see Hyunjin make a cooing sound and their leader watching the older man with lips curled back in a makeshift snarl. He chuckles, leaving the room before being witness to a fight.

It’s as the grifter walks down the hallway that he hopes Seungmin will realize that he doesn’t have to do this alone anymore. He’s got four other people at his back who, dare say, love him, and they’re not planning on going anywhere anytime soon.

**Author's Note:**

> the hardest part about being a writer is that u end up writing a lot but sometimes it's not ready to be shared....just know that even though I haven't shared a fic since may I've been writing, so much in fact that I'm sure it's getting close to 80k or has surpassed that...this is the first fic of what I've been working on that I've finished and am ready to share.
> 
> but yea, this fic is based on Leverage. I rewatched the first ep recently and suddenly had the cool idea of Seungmin taking Nate's place in the story (because in Miroh's mv he was with all the plans). the rest just kinda fell into place. I used they/them pronouns with Jisung because I can. also I know I wrote both Victor and Viktor but no one cares right? right? because I don't, not really :") also my tense changes...yea this is a fucking mess but i'm gonna share it like this anyways asfsf enjoy.
> 
> I'm half tempted to write another fic with them in this au, but who knows. I guess if anyone's interested in that [y'all should come hmu on tumblr absfhsdfs](https://woojinsjf.tumblr.com).
> 
> until next time, stay safe lovelies~


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